Schizophasia Blog

February and March is the time to repot just about all your overwintered plants. The days are getting longer and the plants are beginning to wake up from their winter dormancy. Potting them into larger containers now means that those stretching roots will have the ability to grow and produce a larger plant. And, as we all know, larger plants produce more flowers. Use a pot that is one or at most, two sizes larger than the current container. The accepted garden wisdom is to move from a four inch pot to a five or six. I broke that rule with some plants this week but in this case, the citrus trees were seriously under-potted and while it would have been better to move them up one size, the larger size will work better to balance the heavy top growth and I will not have to repot them in another few months.

Even your normal houseplants will benefit from being repotted now. If they have grown well over the past year, reward them with a larger pot. My bay tree didn’t do all that well over the winter as it resented the lack of sunlight and missed its greenhouse setting so I’m not going to repot it. It will probably make another year in its eight inch pot. But the new Trachelospermum ‘tricolor’ (Variegated Star Jasmine) with its pink and green variegated leaves has done well so it is going to get a larger pot. This award-winning plant is a sure-fire winner and should be available this spring at better garden centres. Its vine-like habit grows to five feet tall and has fragrant flowers to boot. Mine will live in its pot outside this summer and will come back indoors as it is a bit too tender for my outdoor garden. Repot! The time is nigh.

Doug Green is an award winning garden author who answers gardening questions in a free newsletter at http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com

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Bamboo flooring is unquestionable a unique form of flooring, and one that many people may have not heard about. First, a little background information on bamboo: Bamboo is technically a grass product, not wood. It is very environmental friendly, as it fully matures in three years, does not require planting, and does not require harmful pesticides. Bamboo has been used for construction for many thousands of years, and is still used in some cities. Aside from being economically friendly, bamboo flooring is also very beautiful. Most bamboo floors have a glowing honey finish which make distinctive patterns when made into flooring, and come in over 30 different colors. Bamboo wood flooring is also more durable than many other types of flooring, including wholesale vinyl flooring. Bamboo flooring is treated to resist both insects and fire. Also, bamboo flooring is as hard as Maple and more than 50 percent more stabile than Red Oak.

Bamboo Flooring will be perfect for your home.

Whether you want new flooring for your home, office, or anywhere in between, bamboo flooring is the answer. Relatively easy to install and maintain, it is hard to see why more people don’t already have bamboo flooring. If your home has small kids running around, rest assured that bamboo laminate flooring will resist any normal household stains, and is easy to clean. If you want a floor that is inexpensive, elegant, and easy to clean, then wait no more and buy a bamboo floor.

About the author:

Mike Yeager
Publisher
http://www.a1-interior-design-4u.com/

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There’s a running joke among my friends that the odd jobs never
get done around the house because the man of the house can’t do
it without the right power tools - which he hasn’t bought yet.
Most women, on the other hand, have never met a nail that can’t
be hammered in with the heel of a shoe or a screw that will
stand up to a nail file. I’m no exception - my “tool box”
consists of one Phillips head screwdriver, two flat screwdrivers
and a ‘lady’s hammer’. More often than not, though, if I need to
break into my computer’s case, I’ll send a kid out to the
kitchen to bring me back the butter knife with the flower on the
handle - it’s the only one with a narrow enough tip to get
seated properly in those tiny screws. Even I have to admit,
though, that there are some power tools that make impossible
jobs easy as pie. In fact, there is one power tool that no woman
should be without, especially if she’s living alone.

Essential Power Tool Survival Kit

Number one on the power tool hit parade is a cordless electric
drill. If you’ve ever spent forty minutes trying to hang a towel
bar or curtain rod, you’ll swoon over what an electric drill can
do for you. Sure, given the time and the right nail file, you
can get any screw into any wood - but why spend 20 minutes
twisting your wrist when an electric drill with a screw bit can
have that little sucker in place - tight and flush - in less
than 30 seconds?

Electric drills are also the best - and sometimes only - way to
get a screw that’s gone in wrong UN-stuck. Once you have a power
drill in the house, you won’t know how you ever did all of the
little fix-it jobs without one. It’s easily the handiest of all
the power tools to own. The best drill to own? One with a 3/8″
chuck and variable speeds, including reverse. It will set you
back $25-$50 and be worth every single penny.

More than Power Tools - The essentials you need in your tool kit

1. A claw hammer. While I can drive any nail with the heel of a
shoe, getting nails OUT is a different matter. A 16 ounce claw
hammer is an absolute necessity for all sorts of jobs around the
house.

2. A screwdriver set. There are some screws your trusty nail
file just won’t handle. Pick up a good screwdriver set that
includes flat heads, Phillips heads, star tips and a set of hex
keys. If it also has a set of socket tips for unscrewing nuts,
you’re in great shape.

3. Adjustable pliers, needle nose pliers and wire cutters.

4. Tape measure.

5. Duct tape.

6. An assortment of nails, brads and screws.

Tools aren’t just for men. They can make your life much easier -
and save you money on repairs around the house that you never
thought you could do yourself. If you haven’t made friends with
the power tools aisle at your local hardware store, it’s about
time you did.

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Why install synthetic turf instead of real lawn? Most of the
following steps are not required when you choose to install
synthetic surfaces rather than a traditional one. A court should
have a slope of a few inches from one end to the other to carry
off water. After the level is determined, all there is to making
a court is to fill in or cut away soil and earth until the
proper level space is obtained. As a rule it is better to dig
away for a court rather than to fill in, as we thus obtain a
better bottom and one that will require but little rolling. In
the case of a slope, it is well so to locate the court that the
amount of earth excavated from one end will be just about
sufficient to fill in the other.

The final surfacing of a court is done by means of clay and sand
in the proportion of about four or five to one, the clay of
course being in excess. To mix clay and sand thoroughly, the
former should first be pulverized thoroughly when dry and the
mixture sifted over the court carefully and evenly. The next
step is rolling and wetting, and more rolling and wetting until
finally the whole is allowed to dry and is ready for play. The
slight irregularities and roller ridges that often appear in a
court will soon be worn off by the players’ feet, but playing of
course will not change the grade. A new court will be greatly
improved by use, but no one should be allowed on a court except
with rubber-soled shoes. Heeled shoes will soon ruin a court,
and it is bad practice even to allow any one to walk over a
court unless with proper footwear.

Leveling The Playing Court

The preliminary leveling of a court can be accomplished with a
rake and a straight-edged board, but after the clay has become
packed and hard it will be necessary to use considerable force
in scraping off the inequalities. A metal cutting edge, such as
a hoe or scraper, will be found useful. A court should be swept
with a coarse broom to distribute the fine material evenly.
Another very good sweeper can be made from a piece of wood about
six or eight feet long to which several thicknesses of bagging
have been tacked or fastened. The final step in making a court
consists in marking it out.

Since most courts are marked so that they will be suitable
either for singles or doubles or so that either two or four
people can play at a time. Where tape markers are to be used,
the proper distances will appear on the tape without measuring,
but if lime is used for marking a careful plotting will be
necessary to secure the proper distances, after which the
corners should be indicated by angle irons, so that the court
may be re-marked at any time without re-measuring. Remember that
synthetic turfs are almost free maintenance surfaces, and will
save you time and money at long last.

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